TOPIC · Adverbs & particles

Distinguishing hin and her in German

A2B1

After this lesson you can correctly choose between hin and her and use their most frequent compounds to describe movement in German at A2–B1 level.

In this lesson you learn how to use the directional adverbs hin and her to describe movement in German more precisely.

Basic meaning of hin and her

Speaker’s perspective

hin: movement away from the speaker.
her: movement towards the speaker (or a reference point).

Important: the “speaker” can also be another reference point, for example hier in hierher, or the person you are talking to.

Typical questions

Question	Typical answer with hin	Typical answer with her
Wohin gehst du?	Ich gehe nach draußen hin. (I’m going outside.)	–
Woher kommst du?	–	Ich komme von draußen her. (I’m coming from outside.)

hin fits more with Wohin? (“to where?”: forward movement), her more with Woher? (“from where?”: movement back towards a point).

hin and her with motion verbs

Simple examples

Example	Meaning
Ich gehe nach draußen hin.	I go from here to outside.
Wir fahren nach Berlin hin.	We drive from our current place to Berlin.
Komm bitte her!	Come towards me, please.
Kommen Sie doch hierher!	Come to the place where I am.
Sie läuft zu mir her.	She is running towards me.

In everyday German, hin is often omitted: Ich gehe nach draußen. is completely normal. her is more important, because it clearly adds “to me / towards here”: Komm her! sounds more natural than just Komm! if you want to stress the direction.

Compounds with prepositions

Many directional adverbs are built with hin/her + a preposition.

Form	Structure	Meaning / Usage
hinaus	hin + aus	to outside, away from the speaker: Er geht hinaus. (He goes out.)
heraus	her + aus	from inside to outside, towards the speaker: Komm heraus! (Come out (towards me)!)
hinein	hin + ein	to inside, away from the speaker: Sie geht hinein. (She goes in.)
herein	her + ein	to inside, towards the speaker: Kommt herein! (Come in (to where I am)!)
hinauf	hin + auf	upwards, away from the speaker: Er läuft die Treppe hinauf. (He runs up the stairs.)
herauf	her + auf	upwards, towards the speaker: Sie kommt die Treppe herauf. (She comes up the stairs (towards me).)
hinunter	hin + unter	downwards, away from the speaker: Die Kinder laufen hinunter. (The children run down.)
herunter	her + unter	downwards, towards the speaker: Die Katze kommt die Treppe herunter. (The cat comes down the stairs (towards me).)

Remember:

hin-forms focus on direction away.
her-forms add the nuance: the movement goes towards the speaker / reference point.

Set expressions and everyday language

hin und her together

Example	Explanation
Wir laufen den ganzen Tag hin und her.	We walk back and forth all day.
Hör auf, so hin und her zu rennen!	Stop running back and forth like that!

Common verbs and phrases

Expression	Meaning
hinfahren	to drive / go somewhere (by vehicle).
hinbringen	to take / bring something or someone to a place.
herbringen	to bring something or someone here.
herkommen	to come here: Woher kommst du her? (Where are you coming from?)

Practical tips

Ask yourself: Is something moving towards me / towards “here”? → usually her.
Is it moving away from here? → usually hin.
In many everyday sentences you can omit hin, but her often changes or clarifies the meaning.

summaryEn: After this lesson you can correctly choose between hin and her and use their most frequent compounds to describe movement in German at A2–B1 level.